MNA

Vice Minister for Policy Hsu Szu-chien visited the Yilan area today. He successively visited Army and Navy units, learned about their combat readiness training status, and expressed high appreciation and commendation for the officers’ and enlisted personnel’s dedication in steadfastly holding their posts to defend the homeland. Accompanied by Admiral Chiang, Chief of Navy, Navy Headquarters, Lieutenant General Chen, Chief of Staff, Army Headquarters, and Lieutenant General Lien, Commander of the 6th Army Corps, among others, Vice Minister Hsu visited units including the 168th Fleet and the Lanyang Regional Command. He received unit briefings, gained a detailed understanding of combat readiness preparations, expressed concern for the officers’ and enlisted personnel’s living conditions and leave arrangements, and, on behalf of Minister Wellington Koo Li-hsiung, presented bonuses to commend them for their hard work in fulfilling daily missions and maintaining their posts. Vice Minister Hsu stated that on the eve of the Dragon Boat Festival, he made a special visit to the units to convey Minister Koo’s care and encouragement. He reminded commanders at all levels to fulfill their responsibility in taking care of their brothers and sisters, and extended early wishes for a happy and peaceful Dragon Boat Festival. Vice Minister Hsu mentioned that last week all officers and enlisted personnel had diligently participated in the Tianma Exercise and delivered outstanding performance. All shooting tasks hit their targets. This not only validated the results of their solid training but also demonstrated the units’ overall combat capabilities. He expressed appreciation for their efforts and dedication. Vice Minister Hsu emphasized that ROC Armed Forces officers and enlisted personnel shouldered the heavy responsibility of defending the homeland. He encouraged all personnel to persistently refine their core training tasks, implement various combat readiness preparations, maintain high vigilance and response capabilities, ensure that units remain in the highest state of combat readiness, and jointly safeguard national security.

Nine units including anti-armor troops of the Army and Marine Corps continued to perform the "Tianma Exercise" mission at Fangshan Range in Pingtung this afternoon. Each unit resorted to "testing for training" and fired live rounds of new and old Tow Missile launch systems as a test of proficiency of firing procedures among servicemen as well as to enhance the firing effectiveness of precision weapons. The new "M41A7 ITAS Tow Missile Launch System" can be used to fire towed 2A and 2B missiles. It is equipped with features such as integrated handle control modules, laser infrared distance measurements, auxiliary aiming locks, and automatic detection function. All such functions can greatly improve the engagement and fast response capabilities of officers and soldiers, accurately lock on enemy armored units, and improve the firing target rate. The system can be vehicle-mounted or ground-mounted. For this exercise, it was mounted on a M1167 Hummer for testing. As pointed out by Captain Chan, an instructor from Army Infantry Training Command, since the M1167 Hummer is equipped with 190 horsepower, it boasts a maximum speed of 113 km/per hour. A new protective steel plate has also been added to the shooter's position, which can withstand shots from weapons less than 7.62 mm, while its car body is also strengthened with armor to endure weapons attacks of less than 12.7 mm.